A Global Pharmaceutical Company - Stakeholder event: selecting a new, innovative initiative in HIV/AIDS

Client challenge

The client has worked on a range of HIV/AIDS initiatives in least developed countries and identified the need to explore and establish a new venture that would build on previous CSR work and have a lasting impact in a least developed or sub-Saharan African country.  Whichever initiative was selected, it was critical that it was consistent with the client’s commitment to socially responsible action.

To achieve this goal, Article 13 was commissioned to set up and run a workshop which would generate ideas from key employees and facilitate the decision-making process.

What did we do?

Article 13 drew on existing scenarios and expert opinions to develop three scenarios for sub-Saharan Africa in 2025 which were used to prepare a map of the ‘environment’ showing the developing world.  These scenarios were designed to form the foundation for an ideas generation workshop to help identify relevant potential action areas for a new initiative.

The workshop was held in Switzerland and brought together key decision-makers from the client’s offices in Switzerland, the UK and the US.  Article 13 facilitated the workshop, using plenary sessions and breakout groups to engage participants in debate and elicit creative and innovative ideas. This was followed up with a Delphi-style follow up with the workshop participants asked to rank the ideas generated in the workshop in order of priority and fit with the requirements of the scenarios and with the client’s approach to CSR.

How did we break the cycle?

Article 13’s future visioning techniques provided a solid backdrop to an engaging workshop, which was effective in eliciting creative and thought provoking ideas, as well as securing participants’ enthusiasm and buy-in for a new initiative.  Article 13 used innovative measurement strategies to prioritise the resulting ideas and enable the client to make an informed decision.

The work of future scenarios provides a solid background of issues in which to make decisions, and will form the core of the client’s policy on HIV/AIDS and access to medicines in the future.

© Article 13 2006